The Social Pyramid Scheme

Maya stared at the neon orange bottle on her desk—her mom's latest attempt to fix her "deficiencies." The vitamin D supplement sat next to her laptop like a tiny judgmental pyramid of wellness culture. Meanwhile, her ethernet cable lay disconnected, a casualty of yesterday's freshman orientation disaster.

"You coming to Stacy's party?" Leo leaned against her doorframe, spinning a basketball on his finger. He'd somehow already secured a spot at the top of the sophomore social pyramid before classes even started.

Maya gestured vaguely. "Depends. Does being there require consuming mysterious punch from a plastic pyramid-shaped cooler?"

"No. But Stacy's cousin said he might bring his band. Also, apparently her older brother knows someone who knows someone from TikTok." Leo raised his eyebrows significantly.

She sighed. "Let me guess—you need a ride because your car's still at the shop?"

"And you're the only person I trust with my aux cable privileges," he grinned.

Three hours later, Maya found herself squeezed between Leo and some girl named Jordan who kept talking about her juice cleanse pyramid scheme MLM while the bass vibrated through the floorboards. She'd somehow brought the vitamin bottle along—a weird comfort object, like a touchstone for her awkwardness.

"So," Jordan leaned closer, shouting over the music. "What's your thing? Like, are you sports, arts, or..."

"Existential crisis?" Maya suggested.

Leo snorted. "Maya's in that band with the weird name. You know, the one that practices in a garage that actually has a garage in it."

"Wait," Jordan's eyes widened. "Cable Management? I heard your cover at that warehouse show last month. That breakdown was insane."

Maya blinked. "You were there?"

"Duh. Everyone's talking about you guys." Jordan pulled out her phone. "My friend Kayla literally made a TikTok about your guitar solo. It's kind of a whole thing."

As Jordan showed her the video—thousands of likes, comments calling her "lowkey iconic"—Maya felt something shift. The social pyramid wasn't actually a pyramid at all. It was more like... a cable network. Messy, interconnected, and you never knew what was plugged into what until someone tripped over the cord.

"So," Leo appeared with two cups. "Want to tell Jordan about your vitamin collection? She's into wellness too."

Maya laughed, and for the first time all night, she didn't feel like she was pretending anything. "Maybe later. Right now, I think we're supposed to be cool."

"Too late," Jordan grinned. "You're already on my follow list. Welcome to the pyramid, I guess."